Lord of the Rings Post-view Thread

Self | 12/19/01

[NYS_Eric]

Please no flames for starting another LOTR thread, but I don't see an active one right now for Freepers who just came back from viewing the picture today. I just got back and am very interested in everyone else's impressions.

My first thought while seeing it was just how perfect the casting was. Dang, could there have been a better Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, or Saruman?

Merry and Pippen might have been portrayed as a touch too oafish just to get a couple of cheap laughs, but guess what-- it worked. They had me laughing quite a bit. They worked very well together.

And the balrog? The CGI special effects techie who came up with that should get bonus pay. I still can't wind down yet from this movie. Never felt I got more for my money in a very long time.

[Snuffington]

My dream-choice for Gandalf would have been Sean Connery

Sean Connery would have struggled to make you forget 007. McKellen is Gandalf from the moment he appears to the moment he exits the screen. His performance is amazing.

Off the screen, think of him as yet another artist who thinks his talent in one particular field (acting) makes his opinion in an entirely separate field important. In other words, he's delusional. If the rest of our society didn't so commonly share his delusion, it would be a less than notable fact about the man.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well dont't start the Two Towers ping list yet... For one, I won't get to see this one until Saturday, and for another, I think you would be assasinated by the anti-LOTR movement.

Glad you were not disapointed after all the hype.

An ode to the ring ping king

To ecurbh joyously I sing

Praise for his tireless pings

For without all the pings for the one ring

How could we have kept up with all these ring things?

Please tell me when I am about to be shot at for the poem.

[gore3000]

The scenery was magnificent, the special effects perfect. What amazed me most though how well the fantastic world of middle earth was depicted. Orcs look like what I thought they would be, the shire is true in so great detail, and on and on. The action scenes are totally unbelievably well done and the story is told very well for both those who have read the books and those who have not.

This is the definitive Tolkien movie and an instant classic.

[ecurbh]

I think you would be assasinated by the anti-LOTR movement.

You mean ambrose and MarkWar? They don't scare me. :^)

[HairOfTheDog]

See what I mean... read the post above by Snuffington... he feels it was compressed... hee hee. Gotta love looking at life from a few different perspectives.

[gore3000]

I went with someone who had not read the book and she was as impressed with it as myself who have read it 3 times or so.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

You mean ambrose and MarkWar? They don't scare me. :^)

In that case, sign me up for the ping list for The Two Towers

[SurferDoc]

Sean Bean was great (as a poseur) in Ronin, too.

[nutmeg]

Bump to read later

[paul544]

Well might as well add my 1 cent.

Acting
• All were first class. Thumbs up all around.
• Sean Bean as Boromir was outstanding.
• Elijah Wood is in Oscar territory.
• The wizards were a wizard's wizards.
• Vigo Motensson is always dark and brooding, just as Aragorn should be.

All around
• Legolas is a bad-ass elf. Kicking ass and taking names.
• CGI was strong enough to get the job done, without overpowering the movie, ala Star Wars.
• The action and fight scenes were heart stopping. After Strider killed the Urik Hai, the whole place errupted in cheers.
• Jackson's license with the material does nothing but add to the film. Purists will always be dissapointed.
• This whole production should get at least 10 Oscars. For real.

With that said. I am going back tommorrow to see it again. Time to start picking up all the small stuff I missed.

[HairOfTheDog]

Not by themselves, but they may recruit others.... Better to bury the Two Towers threads deep within another obscure headline for awhile.... maybe something about Geraldo Rivera that no one wants to read.

[paul544]

BTW, about the trailers....

Did anyone else have to sit through that BS anti smoking crap? I wanted to scream!!!

Spiderman looked great. Kirsten Dunst in a wet T-Shirt? Oh yeah, it gets two "thumbs" up. Way up....

[egarvue]

Ok, I just got back, I'm tired but verrrrry happy.

The film was awesome, everything I thought it could be. Did it capture everything in the book? Nope, The story in the books is better. But that's just it, they're books. This film was an incredible, perfect adaptation - no fan could ask for more. You physically cannot squeeze 100% of Tolkien into a film, its just not possible.

My mind is spinning so much I can't give a full review, but Darth Sidious on an earlier post basically summed up what I am thinking. The best thing about the movie was that everything seemed so REAL - Middle Earth was really alive; My suspension of disbelief was so effortless in this film that I didn't even notice it until the film was over, it felt that real. A few other perfections: the Shire was 100% perfect, all of the parts were cast just right. Oh, and the Balrog - HOLY &%^!#@$ THE BALROG WAS UN-FREAKIN' BELIEVABLE!!!!! You could hear everyone in the theater collectively wet their pants all at the same time when it appeared. That's all for now, I'll post more maybe later. Thanks to ecurbh and all the others for keeping me pinged! I'm going to change my underwear now......

[Texas2step]

ecurbh, my friend, I am thrilled that this movie met your expectations and more. Based off of everything we've read, I know your expectations must have been sky high. To see that this film met that, and from the sound of it, more, it really has me pumped about seeing the movie! I've got about 40 more hours to go before my first viewing, and I cannot wait!

[NoAction]

Well, I guess I asked for it by lurking here so long, reading all the rave reviews, but I ended up disappointed in the movie. I am still trying to figure out exactly what was the problem (and in fact I was trying to figure this out while watching the movie, which is not a good sign). Overall, I would have to say that the pacing seemed a bit off, with some scenes dragging on too long, followed by a jarring transition in scene. Also, I did not like the whole Lothlorien bit, especially the special effects freak out of the temptation of Galadriel. I so wanted to be swept away by this movie, but was left mostly uninvolved.

Okay, so the bad stuff is out of the way. What did I like about the movie? The casting of the movie was well done. All the actors/actresses look and feel right, as well as giving excellent performances (especially McKellen). The effects (except the Galadriel bit) were absolutely amazing, starting with Gandalf's fireworks and culminating in the ultimate bad*ss monster the Balrog. I must admit that I am an avid fantasy-adventure reader and D&D player, so I have seen many illustrations of demons and other monsters, but still was not prepared for THAT! Wow! In fact, the whole Moria part of the movie was amazing, from the Gates onward. Also, the flight to the ford was well done. There are many other good bits that I could list, but I don't want to be here all night. So still the quandary: Why with so much good stuff, did the movie still underwhelm me? Maybe I will come up with a better answer after thinking it through some more, but for now I will just say that it was a good movie that I wanted to be great.

[Arator]

Thanks for such a stirring review, EVP. I'm going to see this for the first time Friday night. I can't wait.

[irishjuggler]

The movie ends pretty much like the book,

Glad to hear this. When I was driving home tonight, I heard the KCBS reviewer complaining that the ending was a "cynical" ploy to get folks to see the next movie. I kind of guessed that she was mistaking the actual ending from the book for a Hollywood concoction. The weird thing was that she was talking about the movie as if she had actually read the book, saying that the film lacked the "warmth" of Tolkien's book. Ah, well, just another honest member of the media.

[Brian Mosely]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/ae/movies/1171939

Fellowship will get an elaborate DVD release before The Two Towers arrives.

"There will be additional footage on the DVD, so you'll be able to see a little bit more of Fellowship before the next film begins," Jackson said. "I don't think a year is too long to wait in that context."

Just got back from seeing it. Don't know how I'll sleep...but I have a pretty good idea where my dreams might take me...

[Slapper]

By graciously allowing a homosexual to have a place in this movie, we show that we are not the intolerant monsters the left wingers claim we are.

Wow! How big of you. Claiming to tolerate people it seems that you can`t stand, so the left wingers won`t give you a hard time.

Did Peter Jackson ask you in person for your permission to cast Sir Ian McKellan in the film?